Locked controls
Danny42C:- I see no reason why your account of the DC4 control lock incident should not be true, stranger things have happened. However I would take mild issue with the statement 'As the lock simply held the elevators where they already were, there was no immediate effect' following the application of nose down trim. The trim tabs would have moved in the opposite direction to that hoped for on the part of the elevators and so (given that their attendant control surfaces were now fixed) would have acted as mini elevators in their own right and thus increased the tendency to climb. This can be illustrated by another incident that was well-known at the time, when a Dakota took off with the elevator gust locks in place (or one of them anyway, the effect would have been the same for one or both).
The pilot, having opted (correctly) for a wheels-up landing, achieved his aim by judicious use of throttle combined with using the trim wheel as described above for some marginal control of pitch; but unfortunately the port prop sheared off on touch down, and penetrated the cockpit with fatal consequences. Although this accident had occurred in the UK, it was common knowledge on 194 Sqdn at the time of my arrival there in July '45 as the highly experienced pilot had been a fairly recent squadron commander and was greatly liked and respected – a tragic business.